Vallejo's Measure B tax spending plans detailed

Wondering where $9.5 million in new Vallejo tax money is going this year?

In an effort at government transparency, details of city tax dollar spending -- voter-approved in November 2011 as 'Measure B' -- will now appear in a public quarterly status report.

Joanna Altman, a city administrative analyst, said some of the public safety and quality-of-life measures under way with the funds may be of special interest to the public.

"I think some community members might be aware and follow these things regularly; others may not be," Altman said. "They might think, 'Wow, these are all the great things going on.' Sometimes, as residents, we don't know all the details and ins outs of the process."

One planned use of the funds -- some $1 million -- initially approved in June but still not a reality, is the impending hiring of five new police officers. The recruitment process ended in mid-December, and interviews are ongoing this month, according to the 13-page 'Measure B Quarterly Report Issue 1.' With the additional police manpower, police Chief Joseph Kreins hopes to revive a narcotics unit and community policing model.

Officers new and old may soon be equipped with new vehicle computers and connected in-car camera systems. Some $645,000 has been set aside for equipment purchases, by June.

Police dispatchers are due for a $650,000 upgrade to the department's dispatching and records system.

Under so-called quality-of-life improvements, the City Attorney's Neighborhood Law Program is set to launch this week, designed to aid residents with their most pressing community concerns that cannot be solved through other methods. The two-year pilot program is expected to be kept busy with code enforcement-related issues, in addition to other public concerns.

* $3.2 million to fund the pilot Participatory Budgeting program, which will put city tax fund spending directly in the hands of residents. The public will be asked to vote on community-proposed projects in June.